Archive for Amy Simon – Page 2

I was hit with a dose of sad reality yesterday during the show when, as I was discussing the sickening situation in Gaza, a long-time regular listener of this show, contributor and participant in the chat room posted in there, "Israeli Jews are Nazis." When I implored him to rethink his over generalization and admit that his hyperbole was overblown, he left the chat room in a huff and quickly stopped his monthly $5 contribution of support for Radio or Not. I emailed him the following:

"I'm sorry that you feel that all Jews in Israel are Nazis. If that is, indeed, how you feel, then you probably should not listen to my show any more, as you probably believe that all Americans are war mongering right wing assholes too.

I may not be a religious Jew, but I am of Jewish descent, which makes me Jewish. Not all Jews are bad, not all Palestinians are innocent. And you painting all Jews in Israel as Nazis is indefensible.

His response was a simple

will do...

I don't know what that meant. I'm guessing he'll stop listening to my show, which is fine with me as I have no need or patience for bigots. But how sad is it that an otherwise forward-thinking individual would stoop to taking sides in a conflict where both sides are wrong and, further, to paint all in Israel with such an ugly. broad brush.

I'm no fan of Netanyahu and the others in the Israeli government who are killing innocent civilians trapped in the Gaza strip indiscriminately. But to not realize that there are many "Israeli Jews" who are as outraged over their governments actions as are we is just plain wrong.

This morning I reached out to the founder of Israel's peace movement Gush-Shalom, Uri Avnery. He'll turn 91 in September and, as he told me on the air this morning, he's spent the past 65 years fighting for peace!

I'll post the interview later as a standalone, but it comes at the very beginning of the show today, and I urge you to listen to it with an open mind.

Today on the show, we also addressed the issue of poverty in America as it affects single minority mothers. Bryce Covert, economic policy editor at Think Progress and blogger for The Nation joined me to discuss her latest piece, "We're Arresting Poor Mothers for Our Own Failures," about recent legal crises involving Shanesha Taylor, the Arizona mother arrested for leaving her children in the car while she went to a job interview, and Debra Harrell, the South Carolina mother arrested for letting her 9-year-old daughter play alone in a park while she worked her shift at McDonalds.

never have peace with honor because war is never honorable, even when and if we win it... The only way to have peace with honor uis not to get into war in the first place..."

To which I say, "Amen!"

Tomorrow, we'll wrap up the week with a few more of the interviews I recorded at Netroots Nation in the first hour. And for our Flashback Friday segment, in the second hour, we'll hear the World Premiere Broadcast of Steely Dan's Two Against Nature! It had been 20 years since Steely Dan released an album, and I was honored to be chosen to fly from LA to NYC to interview Donald Fagen and Walter Becker for this nationally syndicated program. The album then went on to win the Album of the Year Grammy...

Persistence, stubbornness, the ability to out-wait and out-dumb all competition … these are the pachyderm compatible qualities that have made the Lipton Brigadiers so easily swallowed by the GOP.

In the race we have loved to watch in Mississippi, Thad Cochran was declared the victor in his hopeful clamber back to another six years in the Senate seat he has done little to distinguish … but ever-so-much of late to remark upon.

Wasn't that The Best?!? From the sweet sounds of The Mamas and the Papas right on through to the amazing dynamics of Nicole Sandler and Amy Simon Live from Cali! That's not just my Air America withdrawal talking, either.

Ever since learning about the fate of Troy Davis, a man who was convicted of murder and, despite new evidence that would have exonerated him, was executed anyway.

I started learning about The Innocence Project, co-founded by Barry Scheck (of the OJ Simpson trial fame), an organization "dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted criminals through DNA testing, and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice."

Today, I spoke with Mark Godsey is the Carmichael Professor of Law and Director of the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He serves on the Board of the Innocence Network, and has been a leader in helping the the Innocence Movement expand around the globe. A former federal prosecutor, Mark is considered a an internationally-recognized scholar, lawyer, and activist on the subject of wrongful convictions. He is the editor of the Wrongful Convictions Blog, and is a frequent commentator on the subject in the national press.

We discussed the case of Mark Morton, a man wrongfully convicted of the murder of his wife who was freed after serving 25 years after DNA evidence that had been hidden by police and prosecutors was finally tested and cleared him of the crime! He's just published his story in a book called Getting Life: An Innocent Man's 25-Year Journey from Prison to Peace.

Tonight I hop a plane to Los Angeles, where I'll spend the weekend covering the AFT convention. I'll be doing some live broadcasts from there, so check back regularly for updates on days and times.

Tomorrow, a special double header Flashback Friday edition of the show with Don Henley and Toad the Wet Sprocket. At showtime, just click on the new Radio or Not 24/7 stream player (embedded on the home page, upper right hand corner and on the live broadcast page just below the Youtube embed) to listen. And stay tuned for details on a live show tomorrow afternoon...

This week, we saw a bunch of racist assholes protesters blocking the roadway leading to an immigration processing office, holding up three buses with mostly women and children with hateful, misspelled signs while alternating between shouts of "USA, USA" with "Go Home" and "Get Out."

Those Amerikkans blocked three buses with mostly children, all in the name of patriotism? Oh yeah, American exceptionalism at its best, huh?

Sorry, but after witnessing scenes like this play out and after the embarrassment of riches from our Supreme Court this week, I'm ashamed to be an American. This is not the country envisioned by the framers of the Declaration of Independence. Perhaps someone should sit these holier-than-thou jerks and read it to them. After all, that's what we're celebrating tomorrow, isn't it?

Perhaps those protesters should take a trip to Ellis Island to see where so many of their ancestors may have entered this nation of immigrants. While there, they should, perhaps, read Emma Lazarus' poem, "The New Colossus" - which is inscribed on a tablet on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Maybe they should stop thinking they're so much better than everyone else, and understand why the US was, perhaps, once the greatest nation in the world, but not so much any more.

Watch Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy explains why in the opening scene of the first episode of HBO's The Newsroom. (They've disabled the ability to embed the scene, but you should click here an watch it anyway. It'll be about 8 minutes very well spent, I promise.)

On Tuesday, after the Supreme Court's horrific decision in the Hobby Lobby case, I wrote that it was time to get in gear and finally ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Today, Amy Simon of She's History joined in to give us the history on the long awaited and long fought-for but as yet unrealized constitutional amendment.